Catch Up

While you wouldn't know it from this blog, I really have been doing a lot of sewing. Here's a bit for catch up.

I made a doll quilt and pillow for a little girl as part of Operation Christmas Child.  It is really a shame I didn't have a chance to take more pictures.  It was quite cute.  So was the little pillow that I made to go with it.  I had so much fun making this little quilt!  I even roped a friend into doing it with me.  I hope to do this again next year!

  Please ignore the cheesy smile.  My husband made me. :)

I quilted and made a binding for an oldie but a goodie.  Doesn't that binding look so pretty rolled up?  I may have postponed sewing it onto the quilt just so I could take a picture of it!  

I have a nearly finished top of for a quilt using my Daisy Chain fabric.  I am currently indecisive on the border.  I'm so close though!

I have made some serious headway on the Christmas quilt!  Yay!  I'm LOVING it!  I'm hoping to make it about twin sized.  After having this quilt around, I have come to appreciate the bigger quilts.  Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to have this quilt done in time to use for Christmas.  I am about halfway there.  Only 200+ more flying geese to make! Only...

And besides that, I have hosted a few sewing nights at my home.  Those have been so much fun!  I have loved the opportunity to share the love of quilting with my friends.  I'm in the process of teaching one how to make her first quilt.  Exciting!  I'm hoping to have many more of those to come.

1000::

::4::
Today I am more thankful than ever for the man I married.


::5::
Ticket to Ride.  Best. Game. Ever.


::6::
Good food.  Lasagna.  Garlic bread. Enchiladas. Yum.

::7::
Two gorgeous sunrises in a row.

1000 Gifts::A Beginning

After several weeks of inspiration from a friend's blog, I decided to take part of Multitude Monday by starting my own list of 1000 blessings.


::1::
My husband.
He is truly an amazing man.  No other person can encourage me, challenge me, and make my laugh like he can.



::2::
My health.
I am able to run several miles and I am thankful for that ability.



::3::
The fall colors that are starting to come out around Ann Arbor.

Truly beautiful.

Quilt Festival

Amy at Park City Girl is hosting an Online Quilt Festival.  I had a hard time deciding which quilt to post about.  I decided on this one.

It was made using Plain Spoken pattern from Modern Quilt Workshop.  I made it for my friend, Sarah, for her first baby boy.  The colors correspond to how she decorated the nursery.  When I first started sewing, Sarah and I would talk about quilting and would occasionally sew together.  Once I learned that she was pregnant, it only seemed appropriate to make her a quilt.

I really enjoyed making this one.  It was one of the first quilts I finished-  the third if I remember correctly.  Looking back, it definitely had it's quirks.  The binding was a bit funky and it was my first attempt at free motion quilting.  But I still really liked it in the end.

Sarah's baby, Owen, was born 5 weeks early.  In fact, he was born the Wednesday BEFORE the baby shower.  I was actually running behind making the quilt and didn't think I'd have the binding on before the shower.  I had contemplated giving it to her unfinished and then finishing it before he was born.  Needless to say, THAT didn't happen.  I had to really rush finishing it up.  But in the end, it worked out perfectly because I was able to place a label with all of Owen's stats on it.

Sarah loved the quilt and she just celebrated the first birthday of her healthy little boy!  Perfect! :)

Slow to Post

I finished my 9-patch quilt a couple weeks ago.  I love it!  This is the largest quilt I have completed so far at about 65"x88".  It's going to be a great winter snuggling on the couch quilt.  :)

I originally planned to quilt this similarly to the inspiration quilt.  I started that way, but after a several lines, I unfortunately realized my seams didn't line up well enough.  It looked terrible!  So I ripped it all out and went for the all over stipple.  The new machine was great for this!  I loved the extra room and quilting table.  It made it so much easier to maneuver the quilt.  I can't imagine doing this on the old machine!

 

 

For the back I used a light green solid and for the binding I used Kona Cotton Cotton in Caribbean.  I really love the color of the binding. 

Oh, one more for good measure.  :)

 

Quilting Bee

Back in August I decided to join a quilting bee, the aptly named Quilter Bees. Yesterday I popped my September block for Meagan in the mail.

Megan sent everyone different solids and asked for a bunch of squares. I hope she likes it! :)